1
“Well,” declares Del Griffith, “welcome to Wichita!”
Neal Page is having none of it. Nonetheless, there he is as a result of heavy weather and a diverted plane. Soon there will be trains and automobiles too. And though Neal is just now realizing Del is becoming a bit of a fixture in his present dilemma; he can’t foresee the uncertain and messy route up ahead. It will be, as he describes it later, a hell of a trip all the way back to Chicago and just in time for Thanksgiving.
2
This time every year, I return to Planes, Trains And Automobiles–in November, 1987 when I entered a theater in Englewood, Colorado to see it, for the first time, I was only thirteen. I couldn’t know then, the film would become a lifelong tradition of mine every Thanksgiving. I am older now than John Candy and Steve Martin were when John Hughes filmed them playing Del Griffith and Neal Page, respectively. Characters they didn’t simply act, but rather fully embodied, turning what might initially seem a slapstick movie into something far more profound.
For better or worse we’re all on a zig-zagging road trip through life–how often do we find ourselves with unique travel companions? I won’t wax lyrical here and I will refrain from reciting countless lines already tingling my fingertips as I type this small love letter to whomever wishes to read it. What I want to say is simply this: I am thankful for strange angels like Del Griffith who refine my default-setting-Neal-Page-surface-self into something far more original and kind despite the hassle and sometimes impertinent inconvenience forced-serendipity usually thrusts upon me. Sometimes I wish I had a great personal story to tell–the sort of story John Hughes might have written and filmed–but the truth is my story is full of far more subtle and less bombastic mini-road trips and not worth any specific mention. Nonetheless, my Del Griffiths are strange angels which come in many forms and often when I least expect each to arrive–and believe it or not, some of mine are both living and dead. They’re the gentle and sometimes raucous souls who come along so wholly authentic and vulnerable and pure that they embody a genuine humanity I am evolving more toward myself. Maybe one day I’ll be one for someone else.
Strange angels are simply exactly who they are and they remind us of why we’re here, right now, even as we hurtle forward together on all the planes, trains and automobiles we share. Do we see them? Even when they’re right in front of us?
I wonder?
3
Neal goes back for Del. He reverses course on the ‘L’ Train on Thanksgiving day and brings Del Griffith home.
He goes back.
4
Whether you celebrate this great National Holiday or not, remember this: we all have heavy loads–watch out for the Del Griffiths and be the Neal Page at the very end even if you too have to go through Neal’s process to get there–it may take some time, but in the end, you can lend a hand, in gratitude, and help carry Del’s heavy load as you bring him back into your clean, well-lit life.
*****
Happy Thanksgiving…
Russell Cordell Staker
17 November, 2023
Austin, TX